A man charged Thursday with murder and arson in a deadly Indianapolis house explosion was offered $5,000 to burn down the
home two weeks before it was leveled by a natural gas blast, court documents allege.

A Mexican restaurant that is part of a chain which has been under investigation by Marion and Tippecanoe county officials
will not have insurance funds seized from a bank account returned, the Indiana Court of Appeals ruled Thursday.

A dispute between a school corporation and teachers association that made its way before the Indiana Court of Appeals led
to the court concluding the teachers may qualify for overtime for performing school-related duties outside of their normal
teaching hours.

The convictions of a gang member stemming from his role in a bar fight were upheld by the Court of Appeals Wednesday, but
the judges ordered his sentence shortened because the convictions all occurred during a single episode of criminal conduct.

Although a judge communicated that a man must register as a sex offender based on the Sex Offender and Registration Notification
Act, because that decision was not incorporated into the judge’s final ruling, there is nothing for the 7th Circuit
Court of Appeals to review regarding his challenge to that part of his sentence.

Believing that the Indiana Supreme Court should have taken a case involving the “disturbing trend” of alleged
prosecutorial misconduct, two justices dissented from their colleagues' decision to not accept the case.

Lyon remains a passionate, unwavering opponent of capital punishment. Her career path has turned from the courtroom to education.
The dean of Valparaiso University Law School maintains a strong connection to death penalty work.

Commercial courts heralded by Indiana Chief Justice Loretta Rush in her first State of the Judiciary address could be in business
soon, with the first pilots launching as early as this summer, according to judges and lawyers involved in developing the
plans.

More medical malpractice cases could be filed directly in state trial courts without first having to go through the exhaustive
and mandatory medical review process under legislation pending in the Indiana Senate. A proposal in the Indiana House of Representatives
aims to raise the caps on damages and insurer liability.

Indiana has nothing to fear from abandoning long-established practice and following the lead of numerous states in order to
allow some 350,000 adopted Hoosiers access to their birth records, a leading national advocate said.

A debate is being waged regarding the effects of the executive actions. Proponents tout ameliorative socioeconomic effects,
while opponents decry a thinly veiled grant of amnesty. In this landscape, it is important to understand the intent and effect
of the executive actions.

Throughout 2014, a subcommittee of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Indiana’s Local Rules Committee,
including Magistrate Judges Denise LaRue and Debra McVicker Lynch, was hard at work on a proposed uniform protective order.